Warm up your yard, deck

For a real lift and lots of flower power, consider the Calliope Crimson Flame geranium. (Contributed)

We’re less than a month away from the official start of summer, but I can’t wait to warm up the look of my yard and deck. It’s time to start adding instant colour with beautiful blooms. For a real lift and lots of flower power, consider the Calliope Crimson Flame geranium. This new alternative to the traditional red geranium has red as a base colour but it’s a hot pink around the edges and the centre.

“It’s a really spectacular colour, nothing like we’ve seen before,” says Peter Cantley, vice president of floral and garden for Atlantic Superstore. “This really ramps up the colour from what you would normally see as a red geranium. This is one of the products that we have as an exclusive in Canada.”

The Calliope geranium, which you may have seen previously in other colours such as Dark Red and Lavender Rose, is an interspecific geranium, a cross between the ivy geranium and upright zonal geranium. As a result, you get not only great colour but also great flower power.

“They grow tall and they grow really wide in the garden, so they’re a beautiful spreading and upright geranium that will continue to throw off all kinds of flowers right through the summer,” says Cantley. “A sunny location is preferred, and it will reward you with great flowers all season long.”

You can get the Calliope Crimson Flame geranium in a pot or hanging basket, ready to go on your deck, patio, porch or balcony. For another easy option, just take it out of the hanging basket and drop it into a planter.

Another beauty that works well in a planter is the new PC® Gigantico® Dahlia XXL Aztec Sunset, with a vibrant yellow at the centre and colours of the sunset at the tips. It has long stems that make it suitable for cutting and putting in a flower bowl to enjoy indoors too, says Cantley.

Adding instant colour outdoors also can be simple with extra large pots of the PC Gigantico “Big Easy” geranium, Dragon Wing begonias or Blanket petunias, which spread and create a fabulous mound of colour. Or maybe you would like a planter with a mixture of colours and flowers, such as the Johnny Flame petunia.

“It has a beautiful two-toned look, a dark purple with bits of light pink in it,” says Cantley.

When you add splashes of colour with flowers in pots, baskets or planters, there is another benefit at this time of year. If it gets too cool at night, you can pick them up and put them indoors, perhaps in your garage or shed.

But let’s hope we don’t have to worry about cool temperatures for much longer. Let’s look forward to enjoying many warm days and evenings outdoors, surrounded by lots of colourful flowers.